At a municipal level, the city is governed by the Brisbane City Council. In 1925, the
City of Brisbane Act was passed by the Queensland Government, abolishing 20
local government authorities in the city and forming the largest
local authority in Australia.

Brisbane is fast becoming a world city renowned for its culture, architecture and landscape.The
metropolitan area is surrounded by
many national parks, and contains many rivers, bays and inlets.
The main
airport serving Brisbane is Brisbane
International Airport, located 14 km north-east of the CBD.In 2009,
Brisbane passed Melbourne as Australia second major international airport on
passenger volume.

History

Brisbane
was inhabited before it was settled by Europeans by the Turrbal people whose ancestors migrated to the
region from across the Torres Strait. They knew the area as Mian-jin, meaning
'place shaped as a spike'.

Oxley
discovered, named and sailed up the Brisbane River as far as Goodna, some 20 km upstream from the Brisbane
central business district. Oxley recommended Red Cliff Point for the
new colony, reporting that ships could land at any tide and easily
get close to the shore. The party settled in Redcliffe on 13 September 1824, under the command of
Lieutenant Henry Miller with 14 soldiers, some with wives and
children, and 29 convicts.

However, this settlement was abandoned after one year and the
colony was moved to a site on the Brisbane River now known as
North Quay, 28 km south,
that offered a more reliable water supply. Chief Justice Forbes
gave the new settlement the name of Edenglassie before it was named
Brisbane. Non-convict European settlement of the Brisbane region
commenced in 1838.

German
missionaries settled at Zions Hill, Nundah, as early as 1837, five years before Brisbane was
officially declared a free settlement. The band consisted of
two ministers, Christopher Eipper
(1813-1894) and Carl Wilhelm
Schmidt, and lay missionaries whose names were Haussmann,
Johann Gottried Wagner, Niquet, Hartenstein, Zillman, Franz, Rode,
Doege and Schneider.

They were allocated 260 hectares and set about establishing the
mission, which became known as German Station. Free settlers
entered the area over the following five years and by the end of
1840 Robert Dixon began work
on the first plan of Brisbane Town in anticipation of future
development.

Queensland was proclaimed a separate colony on 6 June 1859 with
Brisbane chosen as its capital, although it was not incorporated as
a city until 1902.

Over twenty small municipalities and shires were amalgamated in
1925, to form the City of Brisbane which is governed by the
Brisbane City Council.

1930 was a significant year for Brisbane as it had gained some
landmarks which would define the identity and character of the
city. The
Story
Bridge and Brisbane City Hall, then the city's tallest buildings, were both
completed.Additionally, the Shrine of Remembrance, in
ANZAC
Square, became Brisbane's main war memorial.

MacArthur had previously rejected using the University of
Queensland complex as his HQ, as the distinctive bends in the river
at St Lucia could have aided enemy bombers. Also used as a
Headquarters by the American troops during World War II was the
T & G
Building.

Approximately 1,000,000 US troops passed through Australia during
the war, as the primary coordination point for the South West Pacific. In 1942 Brisbane
was the site of a violent clash between visiting US military
personnel and Australian servicemen and civilians which resulted in
one death and several injuries. This incident became known
colloquially as the Battle of
Brisbane.

Postwar Brisbane had developed a "big country town" stigma, an
image which the city's politicians and marketers were very keen to
shake. Despite growing steadily, Brisbane was punctuated by
infrastructure problems.

The State government under Joh
Bjelke-Petersen began a major program of change and urban renewal beginning with the CBD and inner
suburbs. Trams in Brisbane were a
popular mode of public transport and Brisbane and the city became
the last Australian city to completely close its tram network in
1969. The 1974 Brisbane flood
was a major disaster which temporarily crippled the city.

During this era Brisbane grew and modernised rapidly becoming a
destination of interstate migration. Some of Brisbane's much loved
landmarks were lost including the Bellevue Hotel in 1977 and
Cloudland in 1982, demolished in
controversial circumstances by the infamous Deen Brothers
demolition crew. Major public works included the Riverside Expressway, the Gateway
Bridge and later the redevelopment of South Bank starting with the Queensland
Art Gallery.

Brisbane staged the successful 1982 Commonwealth Games and the 1988
World Exposition (known locally as World Expo
'88) during 1988. These events were accompanied by a scale of
public expenditure, construction and development not previously
seen in the state of Queensland.

Brisbane's population growth has exceeded the national average
every year since 1990 at an average rate of around 2.2% per
year.

Geography

Brisbane is in the southeast corner of Queensland, Australia. The
city is centred along the Brisbane River, and its eastern suburbs
line the shores of Moreton Bay. The greater Brisbane region is on the
coastal plain east of the Great Dividing Range.

The city has retained some heritage buildings dating back to 1820s.
The Old
Windmill, in Wickham
Park, built by convict labour in 1824, is the oldest surviving
building in Brisbane. The Old Windmill was originally used
for the grinding of grain and a punishment for the convicts who
manually operated the grinding mill. The Old Windmill tower’s other
significant claim to fame, largely ignored, is that the first
television signals in the southern hemisphere were transmitted from
it by experimenters in April 1934 — long before TV commenced in
most places. These experimental TV broadcasts continued until World
War II.

The Old Commissariat Store, on William Street, built by convict
labour in 1828, was originally used partly as a grainhouse, has
also been a hostel for immigrants and used for the storage of
records. Built with Brisbane tuff from the
nearby Kangaroo Point Cliffs and sandstone from a quarry near
today's Albion Park Racecourse, it is now the home of the Royal
Historical Society of Brisbane. It contains a museum and can also
be hired for small functions.

The city has a density of 379.4 people per square kilometre, which
is high for an Australian city and comparable to that of Sydney.
However like many western cities, Brisbane sprawls into the greater
metropolitan area. The lower population density reflects the fact
that most of Brisbane's housing stock consists of detached
houses.

View of Western Side of CBD from
William Jolly Bridge

Early legislation decreed a minimum size for residential blocks
resulting in few terrace houses being
constructed in Brisbane. Recently the density of the city and
inner city neighbourhoods has increased
with the construction of apartments, with the result that the
population of the central business district has doubled over the
last 5 years and closing the gap on Sydney and Melbourne.

Brisbane
has a lower inner citypopulation density than Australia's two
largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, although constant population growth The high density housing
that existed came in the form of miniature Queenslander-style houses which
resemble the much larger traditional styles but are sometimes only
one quarter the size. These miniature Queenslanders are
becoming scarce but can still be seen in the inner city
suburbs.

Multi
residence accommodations (such as apartment blocks) are relatively
new to Brisbane, with few such blocks built before 1970, other than
in inner suburbs such as New Farm. Pre-1950 housing was often built in a
distinctive architectural style known as a Queenslander, featuring
timber construction with large verandahs
and high ceilings. The relatively low cost of timber in South-East
Queensland meant that until recently most residences were
constructed of timber, rather than brick or stone. Many of these
houses are elevated on stumps (also called "stilts"), that were
originally timber, but are now frequently replaced by steel or
concrete.

Currently, Brisbane has only two buildings greater than
200 metres in height. The tallest is a residential tower, Aurora Tower and the second is a mixed use tower Riparian
Plaza. There is also a further three buildings
over 200m metres which are either under construction or have had
construction put on hold.

Climate

Brisbane has a humid
subtropical climate (Koppen climate classificationCfa) with hot, humid summers and dry, mild winters. From
late spring through early autumn, thunderstorms are common over
Brisbane, with the more severe events accompanied by large damaging
hail stones, torrential rain and destructive winds.

The city's highest recorded temperature was on 26 January 1940. On
19 July 2007, Brisbane's temperature fell below the freezing point
for the first time since records began, registering at the
airport.

Brisbane's wettest day was 21 January 1887, when of rain fell on
the city, the highest maximum daily rainfall of Australia's capital
cities.

From 2006, Brisbane and surrounding temperate areas have
experienced the most severe drought in over a century, with dam
levels dropping below one quarter of their capacity. Residents have
been mandated by local laws to observe level 6 water
restrictions on gardening and other outdoor water usage. Per capita
water usage is below 140 litres per day, giving Brisbane one of the
lowest per capita usages of water of any Western city in the
world.

Dust storms in Brisbane are extremely
rare however on 23 September 2009, a severe dust storm blanketed Brisbane, as
well as other parts of eastern Australia.

Governance

Unlike other Australian capital cities, a large portion of the
greater metropolitan area of Brisbane is controlled by a single
local government
entity, the Brisbane City
Council. Since the creation of the Brisbane City Council in
1925 the urban areas of Brisbane have expanded considerably past
the City Council boundaries. Prior to that, a far smaller area
(comprising the inner suburbs of Brisbane today) was controlled by
the Brisbane Municipal
Council.

The City of Brisbane is divided into 26 wards, with each ward
electing a Councillor as their community representative. The
Lord Mayor of
Brisbane and Councillors are elected every four years by
popular vote, in which all residents must participate. The current
Lord Mayor of Brisbane is Campbell
Newman, who was elected to the position in March 2004 and
re-elected in 2008.

Brisbane City Council is the largest local government body (in
terms of population and budget) in Australia. The Council, formed
by the merger of twenty smaller councils in 1925, has jurisdiction
over an area of . The Council's annual budget is approximately $1.6
billion, and it has an asset base of $13 billion.

Blue-collar industries, including petroleum refining, stevedoring, paper milling,
metalworking and QR railway workshops, tend to be located on
the lower reaches of the Brisbane River and in new industrial zones
on the urban fringe. Tourism is an important
part of the Brisbane economy, both in its own right and as a
gateway to other areas of Queensland.

Port of Brisbane

The Port of Brisbane is on the
lower reaches of the Brisbane River and on Fisherman's Island at
the rivers mouth, and is the 3rd most important port in Australia
for value of goods. Container
freight, sugar, grain, coal and bulk liquids are
the major exports. Most of the port facilities are less than three
decades old and some are built on reclaimed mangroves and wetlands.

The Port is a part of the Australia
TradeCoast, the country's fastest-growing economic development
area. Geographically, Australia TradeCoast occupies a large swathe
of land around the airport and port. Commercially, the area has
attracted a mix of companies from throughout the Asia Pacific
region.

The 2006 census reported 1,763,131 residents within the Brisbane
Statistical Division, making it the third largest city
in Australia. Brisbane recorded the largest growth rate of all
capital cities in the last Census, with an annual growth rate of
2.2%. The median age across the city was
35 years.

The 2006 census showed that 1.7% of Brisbane's population were of
indigenous origin and 21.7% were born overseas. Of those born
outside of Australia, the three main countries of birth were New
Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

Approximately 16.1% of households spoke a language other than
English, with the most common languages being Mandarin 1.1%,
Vietnamese 0.9%, Cantonese 0.9%, Italian 0.6% and Samoan 0.5%.
Areas of
significant overseas populations were in the southern region of
Moorooka where those of African
descent reside. Most of the Vietnamese population reside in
the suburb of Inala while those from Mainland China are often found not in one
particular area but all around Brisbane. Sunnybank is where most of the majority of the
Chinese population reside, comprising
mainly of people from Taiwan and
Hong
Kong. Brisbane has the highest population of
Republic of China
citizens in Australia. It has been estimated that the population
has grown to an estimated 35 000+, making them the highest Asian
population in Brisbane. Consequently, Sunnybank and its surrounding suburbs have often
been dubbed as the 'Real Chinatown' and 'Taiwan Town'.

The
Queensland Gallery of Modern
Art (GOMA), opened in December 2006, is one of the
latest additions to the South
Bank precinct and houses some of the most well-known pieces of
modern art from within and outside Australia. GOMA is the
largest modern art gallery in Australia. GOMA holds the Asia
Pacific Triennial (ATP) which focuses on contemporary art from the
Asia and Pacific in a variety of media from painting to video work.
In Addition, its size enables the gallery to exhibit particularly
large shows — the Andy Warhol
exhibition being the largest survey of his work in Australia. GOMA
also boasts Australia's largest purpose-built Cinémathèque.
The
Gallery of Modern Art is located next to the State
Library of Queensland and the Queensland Art Gallery.

The La Boite Theatre Company
performs at the Roundhouse Theatre at Kelvin Grove. Twelfth Night Theatre at Bowen Hills
is also a professional theatre. The Powerhouse complex stages a
range of productions.

There are numerous amateur theatre groups in Brisbane. The oldest
is the Brisbane Arts Theatre
which was founded in 1936. It has a regular adult and children's
theatre and is located in Petrie Terrace.

Annual events

Major cultural events in Brisbane include the Ekka (the Royal Queensland Show), held each August, and
the Riverfestival, held each September
at South Bank
Parklands and surrounding areas. Warana, (meaning Blue
Skies), was a former spring festival which began in 1961 and
was held in September each year. Run as a celebration of Brisbane,
Warana was similar to Melbourne's Moomba
festival. In 1996 the annual festival was changed to a biennial Brisbane Festival.

The Brisbane
International Film Festival (BIFF) is held in July/August in a
variety of venues around Brisbane including the Regent Cinema in
Queen Street Mall. BIFF features new films and retrospectives by
domestic and international filmmakers along with seminars and
awards.

The
Paniyiri festival at Musgrave
Park (corner of Russell and Edmondstone Streets, South
Brisbane) is an annual Greek cultural festival held on the
first weekend in May. The Brisbane Medieval Fayre and
Tournament is held each June in Musgrave Park.

The Valley Fiesta is an annual three-day event organised by the
Valley Chamber of Commerce. It was launched by Brisbane Marketing
in 2002 to promote Fortitude Valley as a hub for arts and youth
culture. It features free live music, market stalls, food and drink
from many local restaurants and cafés, and other
entertainment.

Brisbane
is served by all five major television networks in Australia, which
broadcast from the summit of Mount Coot-tha.The three commercial stations, Seven, Nine, and
Ten, are accompanied by two government
networks, ABC and SBS, with all five providing
digital television.31, a community station, also broadcasts
in Brisbane. Optus, Foxtel and Austar all operate
PayTV services in Brisbane, via cable and
satellite means.

The Brisbane River has created a barrier to some road transport
routes. In total there are ten road
bridges, mostly concentrated in the inner city area. This has
intensified the need for transport routes to focus on the inner
city. There are also three railway bridges and two pedestrian
bridges. The Eleanor Schonell Bridge (originally named The Green Bridge) between the
University of Queensland and Dutton Park is for use by buses, pedestrians and
cyclists. There are currently multiple tunnel and bridge
projects underway as part of the TransApex
plan.

Brisbane is served by several freeways. The
Pacific Motorway connects the
central city with the Gold
Coast to the south. The Ipswich
Motorway connects the city with Ipswich to the west via the
southern suburbs, while the Western Freeway and the Centenary Freeway provide a
connection between Brisbane's inner-west and the outer south-west,
connecting with the Ipswich Motorway south of the Brisbane River.
The Bruce Highway is Brisbane's main
route north of the city to the rest of the State. The Bruce Highway
terminates away in Cairns and passes through most major cities along the
Queensland coast.The Gateway
Motorway is a private toll road which
connects the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coasts by providing an
alternate route via the Gateway Bridge avoiding Brisbane's inner city area. The
Port of Brisbane Motorway links the Gateway to the Port of
Brisbane, while Inner City Bypass and the Riverside Expressway act
as the inner ring freeway system to prevent motorists from
travelling through the city's congested centre.

Brisbane's population growth placed strains on South East
Queensland's transport system. The State Government and Brisbane
City Council have responded with infrastructure plans and increased
funding for transportation projects, such as the South East
Queensland Infrastructure Plan and Program. Most of the focus
has been placed on expanding current road infrastructure,
particularly tunnels and bypasses, as well as improving the public
transport system.

Utilities

Water storage, treatment and delivery for Brisbane is handled by
SEQ Water, which sells on to Brisbane
Water for distribution to the greater Brisbane area. Water for the area is
stored in one of three dams; Wivenhoe, Somerset and North Pine. As of 13 May 2005, Brisbane has enforced
water restrictions
due to drought. This has also led to the State Government
announcing that recycled sewage will be pumped into the dams once
the pipeline is complete in 2009.

Electricity and gas
grids in Brisbane are handled by Energex
(electricity), and Origin Energy
(gas), with each company previously holding a monopoly on domestic
retail supply. Since 1 July 2007 Queensland regulation changes have
opened up the retail energy market, allowing multiple companies to
resell both gas and electricity.

Metropolitan Brisbane is serviced by all major and most minor
telecommunications companies and their networks. Brisbane has the
largest number of enabled DSL telephone
exchanges in Queensland. An increasing number are also enabled with
special hardware (DSLAMs) which enable high
speed ADSL2+ internet access. The Brisbane
CBD also features a complete underground fibre optics network, with numerous connections
to the inner suburbs provided by various service providers.

Telstra and Optus
provide both high speed internet as well as Pay
TV through their cable services for the bulk of the city's
metropolitan area. Both of these providers also host wireless
networks with hotspots within both
the inner and suburban areas. In addition, 3 Mobile, Telstra,
Optus and Vodafone all
operate both 2.5G, 3G and
3.5G mobile phone networks citywide.